Omusati beheading suspect admitted to psychiatric ward

A 26-year-old man accused of beheading another man in the Omusati region last week has been admitted to a psychiatric ward amid indications he had stopped taking medication for a pre-existing mental illness.

The suspect, who cannot be named pending his court appearance, was arrested following the killing at Omuthitugwonyama village in the Okalongo constituency on Thursday.

Omusati regional police commander, Commissioner Ismael Basson, confirmed that the suspect has been hospitalised since his arrest and is currently under psychiatric observation.

“He has been hospitalised since day one. He was released on Tuesday and booked for psychiatric observation,” Basson said.

Sources at Oshakati Intermediate Hospital confirmed that the suspect is being held in the facility’s psychiatric ward.

The accused allegedly killed Johannes Amakali Sheehama (51) in a brutal attack at Uushwa location. A second individual managed to flee the scene and survived the attack.

According to police, the suspect assaulted the deceased with bricks before mutilating the body.

Still visibly shaken, the survivor declined to comment when approached for comment this week.

Mental health concerns

A relative of the suspect said he had been diagnosed with a mental illness about five years ago but did not complete his prescribed treatment.

“There was always fear that he would relapse,” the relative said.

He added that the suspect began behaving erratically earlier that day, prompting the family to alert police at Onandjaba, about 15 kilometres away.

“I called the police around 19:00, but they said I was not the right person to report the matter. We called again at 20:00 and still received no help,” he claimed.

Police reportedly only responded later in the evening, after the fatal attack had already occurred.

“The guy was killed in front of me. He struck him at least 20 times with bricks until the head was separated from the body," the relative reported.

"The accused didn’t have any weapon on him, so the police report is wrong when it says he cut off the deceased’s testicles. He bit them off with his own teeth and proceeded to bite off his foreskin,” the relative added.